Geagea Urges Harmonious Govt., Lauds Aoun's Oath of Office

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday hailed the oath of office of President Michel Aoun and called for the formation of a harmonious government.

"I'm not against the formation of a national unity cabinet but I support the formation of a government that has a clear policy and a harmonious line-up," Geagea said in an interview on LBCI television.

“Quarreling around the cabinet table will not lead to a result," he noted.

Defending his support for Aoun's nomination, Geagea explained: “We thought that our endorsement of General Aoun would immediately lead to his election but this did not happen even after several months.”

“When ex-PM (Saad) Hariri backed his nomination the March 8 forces had no excuse left not to elect him,” he added.

“After the LF and al-Mustaqbal Movement backed General Aoun's nomination, it would have been a big scandal for Hizbullah not to support him and Hizbullah could not afford to lose its Christian cover,” Geagea went on to say.

Turning to Aoun's presidential address, the LF leader said “the oath of office today was clear and sovereign par excellence and we must seek its implementation.”

“Aoun's election is a step forward,” he stressed.

Earlier in the day, Geagea noted that his “cooperation” with Aoun will be “a main guarantee for the new presidential tenure.”

“The oath of office was promising in terms of focusing on building the State, the army and the economy. As for foreign policy and after two and a half years of total chaos, the new president clarified Lebanon's commitment to the Arab League charter and the U.N. charter, putting Lebanon in the place it should be in terms of foreign policy,” Geagea said.

Aoun was tipped to become president after ex-PM Saad Hariri formally endorsed his nomination earlier this month.

Hariri had launched an initiative to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency in late 2015 but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival.

Geagea himself had been the candidate of the Hariri-led March 14 forces for several months and he received 48 votes in the first presidential election session that was held in April 2014.